Fire extinguishing apparatus



July 15, 1952 H. E. BEDFORD EI'AL 2,603,469

FIRE EXTINGUISHING APPARATUS Original Filed Nov. 20, 1946 FIG. I.

BY AHA!!! if W ATTORZYEY INVENTORS H d Edwin Bec/ arJ Patented July 15, 1952 Delaware "Original application November 20, 1946, Serial No 711,170, now Patent No. 2,532,986ydated De- ,cenlber 5, 1950. Divided and this application November 23, 1948, Serial No. 61,668. In Great This'invention relates to fire extinguishing "apparatus, and more particularly to apparatus that can be 'changed or adjustedquickly to deliver either fire extinguishing foamor a' simple stream of fire extinguishing liquid such as water.

The production of what is commonly known as air foam or mechanicallg foam is now' well understood in the fire extinguishing field,"-'and stabilizing agent thus formed becomes foam by the time it reaches the end of the hose or pipe used for directing it on the fire.

In many instances it is desirable to apply foam to one portion of a fire, and when this portion is under control to deal with other portions of the fire by means of an ordinary stream ofwater. In most forms of foam producing apparatus, the velocity at which the foam is delivered,- or the throw of the foam, is considerably restricted by reason of the fact that some of the energy of the original stream of water under pressure is used up in producing the foam. Consequently, if the supply of air in such an apparatus were merely cut off, the stream of water thus obtained from the apparatus would not have much force because the pressure of the initial stream of water would not be utilized to best advantage. Also. the stream would be smaller in size than would be desirable.

One object of this invention is to provide apparatus which can be quickly changed from an apparatus for producing and delivering fire extinguishing foam to an apparatus for delivering a substantially full size stream of water.

Another object of the invention is to provide foam making apparatus of this type in which the means for producing the aspirating jets of liquid can be moved to allow greater flow of the liquid.

Other objects and advantages of our invention will be explained and will be apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the apparatus illustrated in the accompanying drawings. in which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view through the center of apparatus illustrating an embodiment of our invention.

ATE T--- j 2,603,469 I FIRE EXTINGUISHING APPARATUS Howard Edwin and Arthur Hal rent: 'i w v ford, Englanmfassignors to 'Pyrene Manufac turing Company, Newark, N. 3., a corporation of l 1oz "Fig. 21s a vertical'sectional v w -taken he line II'H of Fig. 11

In the embodiment of our invention illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, whichetnbodimentis suitable for apparatus of V the kind 'held by hand in use.

- liquid under pressure-is delivered through a"hose pipe and connection (not-shown) to a tubular part 16 which is 'connectedto a tapering p'artTl terminating in a nozzle (not shown). A suitable foam stabilizer may be premixed with the water delivered to the tubular part'lS, injected into this water stream, or introduced in any other suitable manner as will be understood by those skilled in the art. A two-part orifice plate 18 is fixed in the part 16 and formed with six orifices, three of which, 19, are used when foam is being formed and the other three of which, 80, are used only when water is being delivered. All these orifices are inclined to the axis so that the jets emerging 20 from them meet about a point on the axis of the tapering part ll to cause the liquid to whirl as it passes onwards through the part 11. A disc 8|, formed withthree arcuate slots 82, is rotatably carried between the two parts of the orifice plate 18 by a short spindle 83 fixed to one of the parts, the orifice plate 18 and the disc 8| bein held axially by asecuring ring 84. The disc 8| can be rocked about the spindle 83 by a handle 85.

Each of the slots 82 is always in register "with one of the orifices 19, but when foam is to be formed the orifices 80 are closed by the body of "the disc 8|. When water is to be delivered, the

' disc 8! is turned to bring each slot 82 into register also with one of the orifices 80, so that water passes through all six orifices, that is to say, the cross-sectional area open to the passage of liquid is doubled. In this embodiment, air is drawn in through openings 86 in the wall of the tapering part 11, which part I1 is made of such diameter that it will accommodate either the volume of liquid and air when foam is being formed or the increased volume of liquid when water is being delivered. By reason of the increase in volume of the water, there is little space available in the part 'I'l for air and so there is very little tendency for air to be drawn in by the water passing through all six orifices in the orifice plate 18'.

In accordance with our invention, the apparatus may of course be used in its normal manner to make foam and can also'be quickly converted to deliver a flowing stream of water without sacrificing a large portion of the water pressure and volume available at the inlet of the apparatus. The moving of the orifice plate and the provision of extra space around the receiver for the water to flow make this possible. It will be apparent, of course, that when the apparatus is used to deliver a stream of; ya er, tl ie yarious ig ht ta, preven' of water.

valve to one position for opening all of said ports, and into a second position for closingonly cerjoints nifusflie a, v .jtaiii-zpigs' E1 is; the; or said'ports,

The termsand expressions wh h'wehave em rec'eiver' an openings being such as to aspirate ployed are used as terms of description and not 5; air through said openings to produce foam in said of limitation, and we have no intention, in the'-" "receiver when certain only of said ports are open,

use ofv such terms and expressiqns; 1;of excludin and to increase' tlie flow of liquid to'substantially fill'sa'd receiye rgihen all of said ports are open any equivalents of the features shovyn and d V e aspirating effect to such an scribed or'portions thereof,but recogm scope of the invention claimed. This application is a division of our parent application Serial No. 711,1'70Ndv'ember 20,

1946, now Patent No. 2,53 195i), I

we claimz V Fire extinguishing apparatus for producing' foam or a stream of liquid comprising attubular receiver tapered toward its outlet end and havi-n oper iihe n a t n r nceflendi r admitt n 20 Nu b aspirated air under atmospherie pressur e, .a, cona d it,,-io i detq aid i n ran eremi fo hsupn y ne fire x i euish n iqui un er: pr s re; a ser e o port betw isa ld c ndu t an receiver, o

di e i nve eines re msp i i into a 25 receiver, a. valve for controlling liquid flow through saicl ports, means for actuating said ft? 'iPl jf various modifications are possib1e within -tiieiiiiffextentas ecen'ib e 5,

HOWARD EDWIN BEDFORD. "AIiEQfI-IUR HALL.

7, mt I REE EiRENCES CITED :"Lh''f oiow n reierences are of record in the file of this patent:

" UNITED sTA Es PATENTS l Pr ter. .09 1 3%?5 F 1 1 6 711: wd d? J if 34 93 50 Ti e sn N 6 .19%?

' FOREIGN-PATENTS. v r Numberj, f ;Country Date T 7 Great Britain-Qui Sept. 9, :1i938 

